Experts shoot down proposed Agriculture budget
Business
“My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer’’ – These are the words of one of the most celebrated global modern day famers, mentor and motivational speakers Brenda Schoepp.
These words were reiterated here in Botswana this week by different stakeholders when the paramount importance of Agriculture was discussed in relation to the 2018/19 Budget proposal which was presented to Parliament on Monday. Commentators have expressed concern in regard the little money allocated to Agriculture by government. This year Agriculture has only been allocated 3% of the overall budget, which is a far cry from the 10% ceiling, which the regional standard.
According to experts and agricultural advocates the lack of adequate budget to the agriculture sector subsequently means no infrastructure development to support the sector, no road networks to connect farm lands with market places, no development of innovative solutions in response to climate challenges facing the sector.
At the First National Bank Botswana(FNBB) Budget Speech Review held at the GICC on Tuesday, just a day after Minister of Finance & Economic Development, Kenneth Matambo delivered the 2018/19 Budget Speech, various speakers made the same call – the money proposed for agriculture is way too little.
The common denominator in various submissions by different speakers centred on the fact that agriculture has demonstrated before (through numerous scientific studies and economic research findings) that the sector is a potential remedy to Botswana’s economic diversification headache.
At independence Agriculture contributed over 30 % to the country‘s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); but today the sector has been relegated to a mere 2 % replaced by the lucrative Diamond & Tourism industries . Pre-Independence Batswana lived out of pastoral and arable farming – today the sector is still the source of livelihood for many ordinary Batswana especially those in the rural settlements. The major concern is that on a national scale Botswana cannot feed her 2 million people. The country still imports over 50 % of almost every food commodity predominately from neighboring South Africa.
Minister Matambo announced a 1.34 billion pula budget proposal for the Ministry of Agriculture in the recurrent budget, this will not bring any significant improvement to the sector that supposedly should be feeding Batswana. This has been referred to as underfunding by Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) head of Agronomy, Lambani Obuseng.
Obuseng expressed his concern in the morning session of the budget review which tackled issues in the sectors of agriculture & energy. He said it was pivotal for the government to review the 3 % expenditure which is not enough to develop and resource agriculture sector.
It emerged at the session that Maputo declaration of the 2003 African Union Summit dictates that member states need to spend at least 10 % of their total budget on Agriculture. “Botswana has not been doing that for years since this agreement, it’s a cause for concern,” observed Obuseng.
The Agronomist also said that Agriculture was a complex sector especially when a country wants to produce on a large scale and promote commercial farming. He said with unfavorable and evolving climate conditions Botswana must move with times and be innovative to realize significant contribution of this sector on the economy.
“Modern day farming technology requires capital and to produce on large scale requires capacity, and that is to say there has to be deliberate spending and will from government side to resource these requisites,” he said. Obuseng further observed that though government has tried with a number of initiatives in the past years to grow the agricultural sector, it continued to decline as a result of certain operational challenges that continue to besiege the sector. Some of these challenges include but not limited to poor soil fertility, dependence on simple manual tools, low adoption levels of agricultural technology and poor infrastructure.
Adding to Obuseng’s views, Clover Botswana General Manager, Mike Joyner observed that the funds allocated to the agriculture sector were inadequate. “This 3 % is against a number of propositions adopted in different regional foras. The SADC strategy on agricultural development submitted that agro-processing was a key sector for development. You cannot develop agro procession with this kind of un-prioritized funding that leaves agriculture with the remains of the budget,” he said.
Renowned Beef mogul, Mr Clive Marshall shared on the challenges facing the beef sector such as low returns for cattle producers and lack of market access. He said for Batswana to venture into beef processing and get in feedlots operation in large numbers funds must be availed by the government.
In the main event of the FNBB Budget Review staged in the evening, just before speakers from different sectors of the economy took the podium to dissect and interact on Budget speech, the FNBB Chief Executive Officer, Steven Bogatsu took the stage and hit hard on what he termed lack of will from Government to develop the agriculture Sector . In his welcome remarks, Bogatsu sent a message to government enclave: “why do we still spend less on agriculture while the sector has proven beyond reasonable doubt to be able to create jobs?”
Bogatsu further said it was irrational to continue spending money on importing agricultural produce year and year out while we can inject funds in developing our own sector and produce food. The FNBB CEO also touched on the beef industry, “why do we still operate Botswana Meat Commission in this model while it was making losses year and year out?”
Bogatsu cited Botswana-De Beers relationship as a benchmark model, “we have a good relationship with multinational corporations like De Beers. Why can’t we adopt the same model for BMC and take the beef industry to the next level?”
Government was advised to seriously consider reviewing the budget proposed for agriculture.
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Business
Grit divests from Letlole La Rona
Grit Services Limited, a member of the pan African real estate group, London Stock Exchange listed Grit Real Estate Income Group is divesting from Letlole La Rona Limited (LLR), a local real estate company established by government investment arm Botswana Development Corporation over a decade ago.
The Board of Directors of Letlole La Rona Limited this week announced in a statement to Unitholders that Grit Services Limited (‘Grit’) has informed them of its intention to exit its investment in the company.
Grit has been a material shareholder in LLR since 2019. On 07 March 2023, Grit sold 6 421 000 linked units, representing 2.29% of the Company’s total securities in issue, at a market value of BWP 22 537 710.
This trade follows previous sales of 6.79% in December 2022, as communicated to Unitholders on 10 January 2023, as well as a further sale of 4.78% (representing 13 347 068 linked units) on 24 February 2023 to various shareholders.
In aggregate, Grit has sold 13.9% shareholding in the Letlole La Rona between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in current shareholding of 11.25% in the Company.
Letlole La Rona said in the statement that the exit process will take place in an orderly manner so as to maintain stability of the Company’s share price.
The statement explained that Grit’s sale of its entire shareholding in LLR is in line with its decision to exit investments where it does not have majority control, or where it has significant exposure to currencies other than US dollar, Euro or hard-currency-pegged revenue streams.
“Grit has announced similar decisions pertaining to certain of its hospitality assets in Mauritius recently. The Company would like to advise Unitholders that it remains focused on long-term value delivery to all stakeholders” LLR said
In July last year as part of their Go-to-Africa strategy Letlole La Rona acquired an initial 30% equity stake in Orbit Africa Logistics, with an option to increase this investment to 50%. OAL is a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Mauritius, owning an industrial asset in a prime industrial node in Nairobi, Kenya.
The co-investment was done alongside a wholly owned subsidiary of London listed Grit. The Orbit facility is situated on a prime industrial site on Mombasa Road, the principal route south of Nairobi center, serving the main industrial node, the port of Mombasa and the industrial town of Athi River and is strategically located 11 kilometers south of the international airport and 9.6 kilometers from the Inland Container Depot.
Grit shareholding in Letlole La Rona was seen as strategic for LLR, for the company to leverage on Grit’s already existing continental presence and expand its wings beyond Botswana borders as already delivered by Kenya transaction.
Media reports have however suggested that LLR and Grit have since late last year had fundamental disagreements on how to go about the Go-to-Africa strategy amongst other things, fuelled by alleged Botswana government interference on the affairs of LLR.
Government through LLR founding shareholder – Botswana Development Corporation has a controlling stake of around 40 percent in the company. Government is the sole shareholder of Botswana Development Corporation.
Letlole La Rona recently released their financial results for the six months ended December 2022, revenue increased by 4% to P50.2 million from P48.4 million in the prior comparative six months, whilst operating profit was up 8% to P36.5 million. Profit before tax of P49.7 million was reported, an increase of 8% on the prior comparative six months.
“We are encouraged by the strong results, notwithstanding a challenging economic environment. Our performance was mainly underpinned by annual lease escalations, our quality tenant base and below average market vacancy levels, especially in our warehouse portfolio,” Kamogelo Mowaneng, Letlole La Rona Chief Executive Officer commented.
LLR reported a weighted average lease expiry period of 3.3 years and escalation rates averaging 6.8% per annum for the period ended 31 December 2022.Its investment portfolio value increased by 14% year-on-year to close the period at P1.4 billion, mainly driven by the acquisition of a 30% stake in OAL in July 2022.
The Company also recorded a significant increase in other income, predominantly due to foreign exchange gains on the OAL shareholder loan. “We continue to explore pipeline opportunities locally, and regionally in line with our Go-to-Africa strategy and our interest remains on value-accretive investments,” Mowaneng said.
An interim distribution of 9.11 thebe per linked unit was declared on the 6th of February 2023 for the half-year period to 31 December 2022, comprising of a dividend of 0.05 thebe and debenture interest of 9.06 thebe per linked unit which will be paid to linked unit holders registered in the books of the Company at the close of business on 24 February 2023.
Business
Stargems Group establishes Training Center in BW
Internationally-acclaimed diamond manufacturing company StarGems Group has established the Stargems Diamond Training Center which will be providing specialized training in diamond manufacturing and evaluation.
The Stargems Diamond Training Institute is located at the Stargems Group Botswana Unit in Gaborone.
“In accordance with the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS) which holds the principle that through education and skills development as well as the strategic alignment between national ambitions and individual capabilities, Botswana will become a prosperous, productive and innovative nation due to the quality and efficacy of its citizenry. The Training Centre will provide a range of modules in theory and in practice; from rough diamond evaluation to diamond grading and polishing for Batswana, at no cost for eight weeks. The internationally- recognized certificate offered in partnership with Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School presents invaluable opportunities for Batswana to access in the diamond industry locally and internationally. The initiative is an extension of our Corporate Social Investment to the community in which we operate,” said Vishal Shah, Stargems Group Managing Director, during the launch of the Stargems Diamond Training Center.
In order to participate in this rare opportunity, interested candidates are invited to submit a police clearance certificate and a BGCSE certificate only to the Stargems offices. Students who excel in these programs will have the chance to be onboarded by the Stargems Group. This serves as motivation for them to go through this training with a high level of seriousness.
“Community empowerment is one of our CSR principles. We believe that businesses can only thrive when their communities are well taken of. We are hoping that our presence will be impactful to various communities and economies. In the six countries that we are operating in, we have contributed through dedicating 10% of our revenues during COVID-19 to facilitate education, donating to hospitals and also to NGOs committed to supporting women and children living with HIV. One key issue that we are targeting in Botswana is the rate of unemployment amongst the youth. We are looking forward to working closely with the government and other relevant authorities to curb unemployment,” said Shah.
Currently, Stargems Group has employed 117 Batswana and they are looking forward to growing the numbers to 500 as the company grows. Majority of the employees will be graduates from the Stargems Diamond Training Center. This initiation has been received with open arms by the general public and stakeholders. During the launch, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Honorable Lefoko Moagi, stated that the ministry fully endorses Stargems Diamond Training and will work closely with the Group to support and grow the initiative.
“As a ministry, we see this as an game changer that is aligned with one of the United Nations’ Six Priority Sustainable Development Goals, which is to Advance Opportunity and Impact for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). What Stargems Group is launching today will have a huge impact on the creation of employment in Botswana. An economy’s productivity rises as the number of educated workers increases as its skilled workmanship increases. It is not a secret that low skills perpetuate poverty and widen the inequality gap, therefore the development of skills has the potential to contribute significantly to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and helping the country become more competitive. We are grateful to see the emergence of industry players such as Stargems Group who have strived to create such opportunities that mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy,” said the Minister of Minerals and Energy.